Shade for motor vehicles



Sept. 7 1926.

I W. J. BELL SHADE FOR MOTOR mm-ems Fild Oct. 10. 1921 ATTORNEYS Patented Sept 7, 1926,. 7

" UNITED STATES N oFriCa-j I WILLARD J. BELL, or NE YG 'MIGHIGAN.

sHA E'ron Moron VEHICLES.

' Application filed. October 10, 1921. SerialNo; 506,868.

The present invention relates to a shade for motor vehicles intended to supplement on narrow country roads, as well as to 'pro I meet the windshield from rain and snow. .A.

further object ofvthe invention is the provision of such a shade which may bepreliminarily adjusted for ordinary operating conditions and which can, nevertheless, be.

moved quickly and conveniently by the operator of the vehicle to shut out the light from the headlights of an oncomingvehicle' while permitting the operator to himself see the road ahead. To, the accomplishment of. the foregoing and related ends, said invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. v

The annexed drawing and the following description set forth in detail certain mechanism embodying the invention, such disclosedmeans constituting, however, but one of various mechanical forms in which the principal of the invention may be used. 7 I In saidannexed drawing: 1 V

Fig. 1 is a View in perspective showing a part of an automobile provided with a top and windshield to which my improved shade is attached; I 1

Fig. 2 is a view from the interior of the vehicle looking forward through the windshield and showing the mounting of my improved shade;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of the locking device illustratedin Fig. 2, which will be described more fully hereinafter;

Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 are detailed perspective views of an attaching bracket and a bell crank, respectively, used in the embodiment of my invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 7.

Fig. 7 is a view of a modified form of operating means.

InFig. 1 there is shown an automobile 1 to the body of which is attached a top 2 extendingforwardly to front end 3 of the top extending slightly beyond a windshield 1.

My improved shade is attached either to thetop or to the upper bar 5 of the windshield frame, as may be most convenient, and is here shown for illustration only as mounted upon the top bar 5 of the windshield frame. I

In Figs. 2 and .3 there is shown the windshield 4, the glass of which is set in the tubular frame members 5. Bolted to the upper tubular frame member 5 are two brackets 6 which'areprovided withspaces, parallel arms or lug portions extending down on either side of the'frame where they are secured thereto by bolt ,7, these bracket members being provided with lined openings 8 and ,rearwardly extending supports 9. The shade 1s a sheet of metal or other material which is provided with a nonrefiecting lower surface which'may be. conveniently secured by painting this side of the shield with a dead black paint the shade being provided with a bar or rod 11' extend ing across its upper edge which is pivotally mounted in-the openings 8 in the bracket 6. The shaft 11 is provided with a flange 13 to which is secured thevshade 10 and this flanged?) is designed to contact witlistops 14 formed onthe bracket 6 to determinethe uppermost position ofthe shade. This limitmg position of the. shade is so-designed as to bring the lower edge of the shade at such a level that the operator may conveniently see under t while preventing the rays I of the sun even when very'low in the-sky from reachmg the eyes of the driver. The

shade is maintained in this position by means of a coil spring 15 maintained about the shaft- 11, one end, of which is passed through an opening in the shaft 11, as shown 1 in Fig. 3, while the other end is secured in a similar opening in the side of the bracket 6 and this spring is mounted about the shaft and in the bracket under an initial tension.

Mounted on the shaftll is the bellcrank 16, which is shown in Fig. 6. The forward arm 17 of this bell crank lever. forms the flange 13 to which issecured the shade 10,

while the rear arm .'18 of the lever is connected to a lug" 19 which is in turn connected to a second lug the'latter being pivot-ally mounted upon a bolt received in the end of the supporting arm 9; of the bracket 6. To the free end of the lug 20 is attached a cord or rod 21 which passes .down inside of the windshield and into the drivers compartment and carries at its end a handle 22. Thls cord or rod 21 passes throu h an onenin 23 in a bracket 2a which a: i b 1 may conveniently be attached either to the side of the drivers compartment of the car or to the lower portion ot the interiorof the windsh eld. Mounted in the bracket 2% 1s a cam 25 which 18 operated by a handle 26 an which when the handle is nulled down 1s aressed into the openin in the 7 1 1 r o 1 bracket throno'n which )asses che'cord J j By pulling down the handle 26 th cord 2i may be locked against further movement through the bracket by being wedg d again the wallet the opening by means o'l this cam surface 25. A spring 28 connected to the lower end oiuthe handle 26 serves to lteen a very slight pressure against the cord lei," i1

ihe opera-tor oi the rG ClQ, when approaching another vehicle with very bright headlights, may desire to lower sun shade to a position to cut out ti lights while at the same time pernr to see under the shade in ordithe road, To accomplish this i the handle 22 which lowers the s in e 1., and when the latter has reached the deiired post tion the driver pulls down the handle locking the shade in that posits n. is soon as the handle is returned to its normal position the spring 15 returns the shade to its original position without any further attention on the part of the operator,

The operation or" the shade may ohtio'osly be accomplished either manually in the manner'indicated, or by the foot oi? the operator, in which case the cord 21 may be continued down to the floor boards of the front compartment and there passed over a pulley 30 and connected to one end of. a pivoted pedal 31. Pressure of the operators ioot against the free end of the pedal 31 in the direction of the arrow A will pull ii to watcl down the cord in the same manner as before when the cord maybe locked by means of the cam as already described.

I am aware that there are shades for metor vehicles which are designed to beadjusted to various elevations, but the present shade differs from those with which I am familiar, by being set in one predetermined normal position where it is usually maintained and is also capable'o't being quickly and conveniently moved to any other desired position and there secured as long as may be necessary, after which the shade is automatically returned to the original posii tion.

point out and distinctly claim as my 1nvention:

in combination with a vehicle windshield, of a sunshade, brackets attached to the top or" said windshield and pivotally mounting said sunshade, a spring engaging said sunshade adapted to normally keep the sun-- shade raised out of operative position, fle: i-

ble controlling means connected to the sunshade and extending within'the driving compartment of a vehicle, and a spring press il member within said'coinpartment adaptet to normally engage said controlling means and retain the sunshadeat any desired an gle, and means for releasing said sprin g pressed member to restore the shade to inoperative position and a pivoted pedal for actuating said controlling means.

Signed by me, this ith day or" October,

WILLARD J, 

